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Grand opening of Arup's new office in Townsville

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Australasia Press Office
2 August 2012

Arup is celebrating the opening of its new permanent office in Townsville as part of their expansion in North Queensland.

Having established a presence in North Queensland almost 20 years ago, the move signals Arup’s continued commitment to supporting the growth and investment currently taking place in the region.

A grand opening event was held on 2 August for key clients and business leaders from the Townsville region, who celebrated the occasion with Arup staff and members of the Arup Australasia Region Board. Robert Donnan, a Senior Associate with Arup, has played a key role in establishing the new Townsville office.

“

Townsville has a very diverse and robust economy and has weathered the global economic storm since the GFC better than most regional areas. We believe the opening of our new office in the capital of North Queensland underlines the global significance that the region will play in the coming years. ” Robert Donnan Robert Donnan Associate Principal

Robert is a local JCU engineering graduate and in his 25 years with Arup has worked all over the world including in Africa, Europe and Asia. He has spent the past 15 years based in Cairns, the last five of which he has been leading the Cairns office for Arup. Robert was recently shortlisted as a finalist in the Australian Institute of Management Excellence Awards for the Cairns region.

As well as having been involved in a number of iconic projects such as the Cairns Convention Centre and the multi-award winning Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway, Arup is currently working on a number of projects in Townsville and in North Queensland. These include: Clinical Practices Building at James Cook University (JCU), $450m Cairns Hospital Redevelopment, Magnetic Island Boardwalk, Mt Isa Childcare Hub, Cloncurry Equestrian Centre, Richmond Council Building, Lucinda Jetty Cyclone Yasi repairs, Cairns Cityport South Waterfront upgrade, Thursday Island Hospital project management, Mornington Island infrastructure upgrades, and the JCU Daintree Rainforest Observatory.

Arup’s North Queensland practice has a geographical spread of Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait in the north, west to Mt Isa and as far south as Mackay.